Chutes Too Narrow
October 5, 2006
"Chutes Too Narrow" by the Shins
2003
One of the most talked about indie pop bands of five minutes ago, the Shins owe their popularity to two distinct advantages: tight, catchy songcraft and Zach Braff. The first is the more interesting. Their first album, "Oh, Inverted World," showed a deep and thorough absorption of 1960s pop rock songwriting, leveled with the occasional psychedelic flourishes. It was an underground hit on the strength of songs such as "Know Your Onion," "Caring is Creepy" and the frighteningly humable "New Slang." "Chutes Too Narrow" comes out blazing with "Kissing the Lipless," as solid of a rocker as the band has yet performed. They sustain that level for the tantalizingly short 30+ minutes of the album. While poor comparisons to their pseudo-classic debut have erupted over the blogosphere, "Chutes" is basically the same album done better. Though the best songs here aren't as strikingly immediate as on "Oh, Inverted World," the average hit-to-miss ratio is much better. And there are songs here as good as any pop songwriting of the last century. Lennon/McCartney would have killed for anything as subtly tuneful as "Young Pilgrims," while the country groover "Gone for Good" would have made Gram Parsons giddy. One of the best pop albums in recent memory.
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